Parents Alliance Jamaica (PA) is a Support and Advocacy group that promotes family unity, good parenting, education and child protection as the most powerful tools to uplift Jamaican children. Particularly those trapped in the doldrum of poverty and violence crippling many Jamaicans and communities.
For parents who can only afford to reside in ‘low-income’ areas, education and safety pose enormous financial challenges which puts Jamaican children ‘at-risk’ – exposed to harm, abuse and the increased probability of bleak futures. Poverty exacerbates these vulnerabilities and the PA wants to improve the support of low-income parents and reduce reliance on crime and exploitation.
The Alliance believes that it is necessary to relieve low-income parents of a greater percentage of the costs associated with education, and that investments in the future generation will show returns for generations to come.
Parents’ Alliance Jamaica wants support to resume a “Back-to-School” weeklong Summer School, dubbed Back-to-School 3Rs Day Camps.
The 3Rs relate to: ‘Review, Resource and Reset’, and the Day Camps are designed to support back-to-school activities for low-income parents with at-risk children across targeted low-income communities. Children are given a safe space to prepare for the new school year a week before the year begins.
The Alliance also wishes to initiate a Ball for Peace series of events, including a scrimmage football competition and ending with a peace concert and forum on International Peace Day in September. These events will enable the PA to support sites of intervention inside target communities, where vulnerable parents can be found and supported.
For the PA, preparing for learning means securing required resources and knowing academic strengths and weaknesses in order to implement an education plan. Among other costs, the PA wants to help parents provide: uniforms, footwear, books and bags.
It is out conviction that the cost of education should be no burden on the poor since the State benefits most when children are well educated. Members want a safer and more equitable Jamaica where every individual has more opportunities to thrive and break free from the chains of poverty and exploitation.
Of course combating the issues related to the cost of education and protection across low-income communities requires a multifaceted approach involving all stakeholders. The Alliance hopes that Donors will support their initiatives and participate as mentors where they are allowed.